Madison's parole request failed for a 32nd time, but on a 5-6 vote. Bruscato said 8 board members must vote yes for parole to be granted and Madison remains in prison.

Madison is eligible for parole again next year. Bruscato said he intends to do everything he can to send a stronger message to the parole board next time given the close vote.

“I intend to make sure that every effort is made a year from now to communicate all pertinent information to the prisoner review board to ensure that Calvin Madison is not released on parole,” Bruscato said.

Hogan was working at the Gas-for-Less, 2201 W. State St., a business owned by his father. Madison, then 22, ordered Hogan, 19, into a rest room and onto his knees before shooting him four times in the back of the head. Hogan's parents, Richard and May, lived next door to the service station. They found their son in a pool of blood.

Madison was arrested the next day. He was sentenced in December 1970 to 150 years in prison under antiquated indeterminate sentencing rules.

Illinois no longer uses indeterminate sentencing that provided a sentencing range instead of a set sentence. Madison, now 66, and a handful of other convicted murders from Winnebago County were sentenced under the pre-1978 method. There are less than 300 inmates left in Illinois prisons under the old system. On the Rockford Register Star's website, rrstar.com, 290 people filed petitions regarding Madison's parole — 278 against and 12 in favor.

Bruscato said it is unclear why the state board came so close to granting parole.

Although the board had placed a May 30 vote on its agenda for a decision, Bruscato said the panel unexpectedly voted May 2 — nearly a full month earlier than scheduled. No notice of the change was given, Bruscato said.

He only learned of the change when he attended the May 30 decision meeting where he expected to witness the vote and to be present to correct the record if necessary.

But Bruscato said he had already presented a case against Madison's release April 2 at a parole protest hearing. He was accompanied by a Penny Hogan, Hogan's niece, who testified about the impact the heinous murder continues to have on her family.